At The Beginning
by me.no.know
Summary: First chapter edited. A sudden twist of fate brings Lisa and Jackson back together and sends them back 19 years in to Lisa's past. Eventually J/L please review.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Red Eye, the characters, ect.**

**A/N:**Hey I'm .know. Wow, its been a while since I've updated! I've decided to edit the first chapter because, well, the last version I put up was . . . Horrible. Anyway, please read and I hope you enjoy! I'm open to suggestions and constructive criticism to better improve my writing!

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Lisa Reisert turned up the volume on her ipod as she picked up the pace of her power walk. Today was the first day she had taken off of work for months and she wanted to do as many things as she could that she were normally too busy to do. One of the things at the top of her list was to get some exercise.

A few months after the attempted Keefe assassination, Lisa had moved into a studio building located in one of the busiest urban areas of Miami and conveniently, a couple of blocks away from the Lux Atlantic.

Subconsciously taking the familiar route she usually did to work, she began to acknowledge a few things that had been tugging at the corner of her mind for a while that she had been too busy to reflect upon. Another year had gone by and she had turned 28 a couple of months ago. Three years have now passed since the rape; two years have now passed since the red eye and her grandmother's passing. Both events were in the past, nothing had happened since those two incidents. Everything was just fine, and yet, she felt that something just wasn't quite right.

But how could that be? After the red eye she had been interrogated and questioned by authorities and she and her father were issued police protection, but after a few months, everything had fallen back into place. She had her life back, was able to restart her normal daily routine, and things went back to the way they were before. Maybe that was the problem, things had gone back to the way they were before.

The events that had taken place on the red eye had definitely made her a stronger and more confident person, but nothing had really changed in her life. Sure, she went out a couple of times a month with coworkers and no longer completely opposed attention from the opposite sex, but other than that, everything pre-red eye had virtually remained the same. She woke up each morning at two forty-five to get ready for work, eating a breakfast that consisted of scrambled eggs and coffee at around three. After work, she would sometimes visit the corner café for a Sea Breeze or else go straight home. She would then eat dinner, take a shower, take care of whatever work she brought home with her, and if she wasn't too tired, stay up and watch classic late night movies. She was still a workaholic – and her moving closer to the Lux did nothing to improve the situation – and still generally preferred solitude over company.

_I want a change, no, I need _to_ change. _She thought. _But so much has happened in the past . . . Things that I'm having a hard time letting go of. Things I want to change but can't change now, of course, that's . . . beyond my control_.

Lisa immediately rejected this thought. The life she lead now gave her a sense of security and as tedious as her daily routine was, at least she knew she had control over it.

As she began crossing a crosswalk, she started to become more aware of her present surroundings noticing that the scenery had changed a little and that the noises of everyday Miami city-life were fading behind her, suddenly becoming aware of the fact that without thinking, she had wandered into an older part of town.

She crossed the street deciding to go on a little further before heading back. Not as many people frequented this area as they did the other part of town but Lisa knew it well, it used to be just as busy here as it currently was where she lived. She hadn't been down this side in a while and it looked like nothing had really changed since the last time she had.

_Except for this._ She thought upon seeing a new shop near a couple of older stores that had been there for years.

From the outside, it seemed to be one of those tiny little hole-in-the-wall sort of places, small and nothing special. In the window of the store were little trinkets and knick-knacks. She walked over to take a closer look and one in particular caught her eye. It was a cute "Precious Moments" ceramic pony rearing. The little pony had blinkers on and engraved on the base it stood were the words "Always Look Forward."

Lisa smiled as she read her grandmother's old saying and remembered how when she was younger, she and Lisa used to visit little shops like these. Lisa looked at her watch and opened the door.

_It wouldn't hurt to take a look around, for old time's sake._

_Place hasn't changed much since I was last here._Jackson Rippner shoved his hands into his pockets as crossed a street. He was back in Miami on business, here to meet potential clients for another job. The rendezvous wasn't for another hour so decided to take in the sights to kill time.

It had been a year since the last time he was here. A year since what his superior referred to as his "big _jack_-up". Following the event that took place on the red eye Jackson had only one person to answer to, being that he held a very prominent position in the organization and that person was the head of operations and a co-founder of the company, Jhonnavin Richards. Richards had told Jackson after breaking him out of prison – news which the government had done well in keeping from the general public while they continued to search for him – that despite the fact that he "_jack_ed up" big time, he was still of use to them and would not be fired. Of course he had already known that. Certain circumstances ensured Jackson a stable career – or as stable as stable gets in this business, anyway - but those circumstances aside, he was still only second to one and was, without question, the best at what he did. Though, that did not go without saying that his credentials had played against him after the failed Keefe assignment.

It was hard for anyone to believe that Jackson Rippner, _the_Jackson Rippner, who had planned and managed countless and brilliantly executed government overthrows and high-profile assassinations, had his entire operation thwarted by a 27 year-old female hotel manager. To say that it had been humiliating would have been the understatement of the century. For some time after escaping prison he had been the laughing-stock of the company and had spent a lot of time trying to regain his old reputation. To add insult to injury, most of the people he had to work with had been skeptical about having to follow his lead and had gone and pulled insubordinate stunts that had made him look even worst.

_But that doesn't matter now. _He thought. _I'm back on top and have a job to do._

Coming out of his thoughts and becoming more aware of his surroundings, Jackson realized that he had wandered a little farther than he had intended to into a somewhat less crowded part of town. He looked around trying to figure out where he was and was about to turn around and backtrack to his hotel when something or rather, someone, caught his eye.

Across the street a thin, pale woman with auburn hair wearing a gray blouse and jeans had just entered a store.

_Its her._ He hadn't intended on visiting her during his stay. He was here on business, and revenge honestly was the last thing on his mind.

_But still . . ._

Jackson looked down at his watch. Another forty five minutes before the conference.

He smirked_. . . It wouldn't hurt to say hi._

"Can I help you?"

Lisa looked up from the angel figurines she had been admiring to the lady behind the counter. "No, I'm fine. Thank you."

"You don't look fine."

"Excuse me?"

"I said, 'you don't look fine'." said the lady behind the counter who was looking through some paperwork. "Something bothering you?"

Lisa stared at the woman who appeared to be in her early sixties. Why in the world was she asking her this? "No."

"Mm. I see . . . "said the woman not bothering to look up from her paperwork. "Well there's more stuff behind that curtain if you'd like to take a look. I haven't finished unpacking but you can look through the boxes that are back there, too. Everything's for sale."

". . . Okay. Thank you." Lisa walked to the back of the small store and pushed aside the red velvet curtain. The room it concealed was small with shelves full of picture frames, wooden jewelry boxes, crystal figurines, and other things of the sort lining each wall and three large boxes were stacked in the corner of the room. There wasn't much to see that she hadn't already seen in the other room and was about to leave when out of the corner of her eye, something flashed.

She turned toward the source of light. On top of a shelf on the opposite side of the room was a sparkling little orb that practically glowed. She approached it curiously and as she got closer she could see that the golden substance within the orb wasn't solid, it was light like a gas and almost transparent. Lisa picked up the radiating sphere, surprised by how warm it was and noting that the glass containing the substance was very thin.

Realizing how fragile it was, she was about to put it down and leave but a familiar voice made her freeze.

"Lisa Reisert."

She turned around slowly.

_No. – It can't – how did you – you're supposed to be-_

Jackson took a step forward, Lisa took a step back. "How've you been?" Lisa looked around the room her mind racing, trying to formulate a plan of escape. "I just happened to be in the area, saw you walk in here and thought you'd like to catch up." Before she could make any sort of move Jackson rushed forward, grabbed her neck with one hand and shoulder with the other shoving her against the shelf causing her to drop the orb. "Do you have _any fucking idea_ of the things I had to go through -?"

CRASH.

The orb hit the ground shattering. A white hot light filled the room, blinding them both.


End file.
